Toy Poodles Set for Police Rescue Squad

A pair of toy poodles are set to join a Japanese police search and rescue squad as early as January after passing the local police dog test earlier this month.

Miyamoto Pet Dog Training Center

Weighing just 3.5 kg and 2.5 kg, respectively, toy poodles Karin and Fuga passed the test to become police dogs in Tottori prefecture.

The duo, Karin and Fuga, will officially be commissioned as police dogs in Tottori prefecture in rural western Japan on Thursday. While they’re the first toy poodles to join the force, they’re just the latest in a small but growing class of small-breed dogs being signed up: Cute they may be, but Japan’s experience of disasters this year alone has highlighted how dogs well below typical police animal size could well be of great value in search efforts in nooks of collapsed buildings only accessible to small, light creatures.

A long-haired Chihuahua named Momo, meaning “Peach,” became a minor celebrity last year when she qualified for police duty with the Nara prefecture’s search and rescue squad. A Miniature Schnauzer in Wakayama prefecture joined the local police force in January of 2010, and after failing two times a Japanese Shiba finally became a member of the squad in Okayama prefecture in August.

“I hope that this will show that not all police dogs have to be big and scary types like German Shepherds, but that small cute dogs can also do the work of a police dog,” said Natsue Miyamoto, who runs the Miyamoto Pet Dog Training Center in Tottori city where Karin and Fuga were schooled for the police test. Ms. Miyamoto’s son and daughter-in-law spent a year coaching the dogs through training exercises.

The police dog test is different in each of Japan’s prefectures, catering to the individual needs of the given region. The Tottori prefecture police said its test measures the dogs’ competency in nine areas, including the ability to smell and climb. The prefecture had the sixth-lowest number of crimes nationwide reported this year as of the end of October, according to the National Police Agency.